Candy Plum

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A mid-terrace three-bay two-storey-with-attic former house, with early shop-front and integrated carriage-arch; built c. 1790 and located east of Main Street in Hillsborough town centre. Rectangular on plan with slightly projecting shop-front to west; full-height return and two-storey modern extension to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and replacement brick chimneystacks. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on ovolo moulded eaves course. Walling is painted smooth render with moulded string course between first and attic floor, moulded volutes to either side of central gable. Windows are 1/1 timber framed sliding sash with horns and projecting masonry sills; segmental-headed to gable at attic, decorative bargeboards and finials to wall-head dormers; plate glass windows to ground-floor shop-front.

The principal elevation faces west; shop-front and carriageway to ground floor with five windows to first floor; paired round-headed windows to central gable at attic, flanked by two wall-head dormer windows. The shop-front comprises two plate-glass windows enclosed by channelled pilaster jambs and flanking a central recessed doorway. Door is glazed-and-half-panelled with transom light; geometric coloured tiles and timber-sheeted ceiling to porch; surmounted by a plain fascia with modern applied lettering and cornice. Carriage-arch to left has moulded archivolt with triple keyblock. To far right is recessed five-panelled timber door with brass door furniture surmounted by grille fanlight and accessed via two stone steps; moulded surround with triple keyblock, as in carriage entrance.

The north elevation is abutted at ground floor by lower adjoining building. Exposed section is blank.

The east (rear) elevation is abutted to centre by the return and to right by the flat-roof two-storey extension, which is further abutted by a smaller more modern L-shaped extension (of no interest). To right; carriage arch to ground floor, two windows to first floor and 3/3 dormer window to attic. Return has timber casement window to ground floor, and two windows to first floor and attic. Decorative brickwork to flue with replacement chimneystacks to gable. The north elevation has window to ground and first floor. The flat-roof extension has a continuous plate glass window to attic level.

The south elevation is to ground floor abutted by an adjoining building.

Setting:
Prominently situated on the main thoroughfare in Hillsborough forming part of a well-preserved eighteenth-century terrace leading up to Hillsborough courthouse and Hillsborough castle (HB19/05/076). Overlooking Hillsborough Parish Church (HB19/05/001) to rear. Carriage-arch opens to gravelled rear car-park enclosed by hedgerow and rendered party wall to north.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Smooth render
Windows: 1/1 timber-framed sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

No. 6 Main Street first appears on a c. 1800 map of Hillsborough where it was depicted as an oblong building situated at the bottom of the hill on Main Street. This map, along with a similar c. 1803 illustrated version, show that the house possessed a large rear return and an oblong outbuilding situated to the rear of its yard. The Townland Valuation Map of c. 1830 shows no alteration to the site which at that time was recorded as a single private dwelling occupied by a Miss Annie Wright and was valued at £4 4s.

No. 6 Main Street next appears in Griffith’s Valuation in 1861 at which time the property had come into the possession of a Mr. Joseph Johnson who let the house from the Marquis of Downshire. The valuer described the house as a two-storey 1C+ class dwelling which was worth £8 and measured 10 by 5 ½ yds possessing a single-storey rear return measuring 5 ½ by 6yds; the outbuilding at the rear of the yard was a two-storey structure which measured 13 by 5yds and was used as a coach house (but has now been taken down).

Joseph Johnson died on 22 December 1864 after which time No. 6 Main Street fell vacant for a number of years until it was occupied in 1872 by a Mr. Henry McDowell, a local Saddler by trade (Graveyard Inscriptions, p. 71; Ulster Towns Directory, 1880). When McDowell took over possession of the building in 1872 its value was increased to £13; this increase in value could correspond with the installation of the current shop front and the addition of a number of later Victorian features evident on the front of the building such as the dormer windows and chimneys; further, it is likely that the current second storey of the rear return was added at this time resulting in a valuation increase. In 1881 McDowell was replaced as occupant by a Mr. James Beattie who also purchased the building outright from the Marquis of Downshire. In 1884 Beattie split the property into two dwellings (nos. 4 – 6 Main Street); Beattie continued to reside in No. 6 Main Street, however he let No. 4 to a number of tenants between 1884 and 1911 at annual rent of £12. Due to the split No. 6 Main Street was decreased in value to £6 10s. whilst No. 4 was revalued at £8. James Beattie continued to reside in No. 6 until 1902 when he was replaced as occupant by a Mr. Leslie Lyons Wilkinson, a cycle mechanic, who briefly came into possession of the site until vacating the house in 1909 (Ulster Towns Directory – 1907). In 1911 a Mr. Samuel Johnson became the occupant of both nos. 4 and 6 Main Street which were revalued as one property, a house and shop valued at £22.

The 1911 Census tells us that Samuel Johnson was a 35 year old Presbyterian Egg Merchant who lived at the property with his wife Elizabeth (35, employed as a draper) and their three infant sons. The Census Building Return describes nos 4-6 Main Street as a 1st class Drapers Shop which possessed 15 rooms along with a stable and coach house located in the outbuilding at the rear of the house. The census also tells us that Johnson and his wife employed a dressmaker and two shop assistants. Samuel Johnson continued to reside at No. 6 Main Street until his death c. 1928 after which time his widow Elizabeth was recorded as the occupant until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930.

The 1966 edition of the Ordnance Survey map shows very little change to the site since the Townland Valuation map of c. 1830 although the rear outbuilding appears to have been enlarged since that time; this outbuilding has been taken down in recent years to make way for the construction of two-storey-modern redbrick extension which is now used as a Hair Salon. No. 6 Main Street is now solely utilised as shop premises, currently occupied by a clothes retailer.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI D671/M/8/25 – Hillsborough Map c.1800
2. PRONI D671/M/8/57/1 – Hillsborough Illustrated Map 1803
3. PRONI VAL/1/B/344 A-B – Townland Valuations 1834
4. PRONI VAL/1/D/3/5 – Town Plan 1834
5. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834
6. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
7. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903
8. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920
9. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14A – Annual Revisions 1864-1879
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14B – Annual Revisions 1880-1889
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14C – Annual Revisions 1890-1908
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14D – Annual Revisions 1909-1928
14. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14E – Annual Revisions 1928-1930
15. Ordnance Survey Map 184-5 (1966)

Secondary Sources

1. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions: Vol. 18 Co. Down’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A mid-terrace late Victorian three-bay two-storey-with-attic former house, replacing an earlier house from c. 1790, with nineteenth-century shop-front and integrated carriage-arch; prominently sited on Hillsborough’s main thoroughfare. An increasingly rare example of an historic shop-front, the major architectural components are largely intact and detailing well-preserved. Despite some alterations including replacement chimneystacks and a modern extension to rear, the building retains much of its original character. Forming part of a well-preserved terrace leading up to Hillsborough Castle (HB19/05/076), the building is an important element in the architectural character of Hillsborough.

General comments

Listing Criteria R and S also apply.